Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Shadow's Apex Part 18: Continents & Geography (Human Geography)

Now that we have a working list of races present in the region, we need to identify relationships that might exist between them. These relationships will help form the political landscape of the region and inspire plot hooks for future adventures. Several sets of potential allies and enemies seem obvious, but lets go into just a little more detail about each race.

The PC races maintain a fairly steady peace with one another, although there should be exceptions. Perhaps there exists a pirate city similar to Luskan in the area? We already have the assassins' guild in Garrotten to stir things up. Maybe the elves are hiding something deep in their forests and turn hostile to anyone who comes to close to the secret.

The aarakocra and kenku are in a constant war over territory and resources in the mountains.

Dragonborn have fought a nation of orcs, orogs, and ogre magi to a standstill and now reinforce fortified positions knowing that they cannot push any further. Perhaps the dragonborn are frustrated that the other goodly races did not send any (or just not enough) aid in the conflict.

Gnolls are the elves' primary competition for the woodlands.

Goblins and gully dwarves are both peoples without homes. Members of either race can be found in the ghettos, ruins, and even sewers of other races. They fight each other over "resources" that the other races have cast aside.

The lizard men are reclusive and only interact with those who dare to enter their marshlands. Few do, because the lizard men have a reputation for eating other humanoids. Whether or not this reputation is deserved might be uncovered by the PCs at some point during the campaign.

The minotaurs are also reclusive, inhabiting a thickly forested valley in the nearby mountain range. They are an enlightened race of warriors who send their adolescents out to travel the world for several years before they are recognized as adults.

With this much detail established, it is time to begin working on a more detailed map of the region!